Gas cleaner



Jan. 14, 1930. c. G. HAwLl-:Y

GAS CLEANER 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 10 Jan. 14, 1930. 'Q G,HAWLEY 1,743,344

GAS CLEANER Filed March 1o, 192s 2 sheets-sheet 2 @zur Qffmzey u dummypanion Patented Jan.' 14, 1930 UNITED STATES CHARLES GILBERT HAWLEY, oFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS', AssIcNoa 'ro CENTRIFIX ooni Parar orme PORATION, OF.CLEVELAND, OHIO, .5. CORPORATION OF OHIO GASv CLEANER IAppliiuttion ledllarch 10, 1926. Serial No. 93,797.

Myinvention relates to apparatus for freeing gas and air from impuritiesand has particular reference to the improvement of-blast furnace andproducer gas cleaners; also warm and hot air cleaners. l

The cleaning of blast furnace gases of some `stack gases and of hotdusty air doubtless present the greatest number of difiicultiesto besurmounted and as my invention is adapted for successfull use even withsuch gases, the following description will be especially directedthereto.

, The further lobjects and the several elements of my invention and thenovel process involved fully appear hereinafter and will be readilyunderstood on reference to the accompanying` drawings. In 'saiddrawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical sectlon of a gas cleaner of the downgoertype embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section lookinupward from the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 isa horizontal section lookindownward from the vline 3--3 of Fig. 1 ;v an Fig. 4 is a similansecydiseased is of the downgoertype. Immediately itis.

tion on the line 4,4 of Fig.`1. As just stated, the apparatus here to beunderstood' that the chief feature of my invention and thehereindescribed process lof self aided 'separation are available foremployment y gas cleaners of both the. upgoer and the h rizontal types.All arebroadly claimed herein; certain relatedv designs t e reof arespecifically disclosed in my coma application. S. N. 94,083, of evendate herewith. j

In the drawin 2 represents the vdowngoer inlet and 3l t e gas outlet.These are in laxial alinement and are widely separated.

The outlet is continued downward in the el-l bow 3 which terminates inthe fiange 3".' Beginning at the inlet and extending downward andaroundand below the outlet 3 is a substantially cylindrical casing thebottom of which is formed into a hopper 4. As-shownv the elbow 3 extendspreferably through one wall of the hopper 4; and the outlet opening' 3is positioned well above the hopper. rThe body 5 of the casing ispreferably somewhat larger at the bottom than at the top. It has a coverplate 6, of generally conical form that is attached to the lower end ofthe v,f 'as'pipe 2 at the ange 6'. The top of the casln'g may tiallyuniform spray or film of water that iiowsl downward upon'the outsideofthe casv ing, as indicated ,by the irregular lines'. 8

thereon. It will be understood kthat the trough here shown is merely aconvenient form -of water sprayer and may be .replaced by other devices.The part 9 is a splice ring j that 1s supported at the top of the casingand.

spaced away from the outer surface thereof to assist in controlling theflow of water from the superposed spray headvor trou h. vAt th bottomthe water'is caught in t e'annular trough 10 and is disposed of-throughthe drain pipe 10. f, y

The part 11 is av jacket spaced away from the bodyof the casingandthrough which air may be blown-or drawn to assist the water in`cooling the jacket for the purpose hereinafter explained. Or the use ofwater may be dis'- regarded and air alone used as the cooling agent.Conveniently, the trough 10 is formed into an air 'distributing ring orbox 11 at the lower end of the casing and the air is delivered theretothrough preferably tangential inlets 12, as shown'm Fig. 4. maximum ofheat radiation from the casing it may be provided with a large number ofradiating fins 13.

The acket and fins neednot be used where there is an abundance ofcooling water avail able. Indeed the absorption of heat from the casingis sufficiently taken care of, in some cases, by merely exposing thecasing tothe external cold air unaided by either water spray or airblast. l l 4 The member T is a whirl promoting or roducing tuyre whichis suspended or ot erwise supported directly beneath 'and in opencommunication with the downcomer gas pipe Y 2. The member T herein showncomprises' a large number of tangentially positioned o ensure a blades14, which are had at the apl by a ria and at the bottom rest upon themargin o the plate or closure '16. The latter receives the direct impactfrom the descending gases and by preference it is a tough'casting, man-I gane'sesteel'or the like, and is in the :form of a the other hand, ifthe tuyre T is held stationary, the, same in itself serves to direct andset the gases into vigorous rotation in a-direction indicated by thedotted arrows 18 of Fig. 3. Either directiomof rotation is suitable sofar as the other p'arts ofthe gas cleaner are concerned and the user isleft to his choice .A attention. By securelyhanging '80 -but shouldunderstand that' the member T when'used as a fan requires theexpenditure of some little power for its rotation and, further, thatAbecause of unequal wear the `member T may rather quickly get out ofbalance and to that extent requiremaintenance or locking the member 4Tin lplace and against rotation the same rotative effect upon the gas ,isse' cured at an expense of very little resistance to the gas flow andwithoutzthe expenditure of external power; further, the effects of wearor abrasion by the particles carried bythe gas are less noticeable..I-Iowever, asf some will desire to use` a tuyere which rotates, I .haveherein shown what I regard as the best means for its support androtation.

vvThe means just referred to com rise a central shaft 21 which risesthrough t e clear gas space within the casing.V The lower end of theshaft is provided with a tightly enclosed step bearing 19 whichpreferably hangs.v from the lower side of the elbow 3.. The' stepcasting also encloses the'gearing20 through the medium of which theshaft 21 is rotated from the motor 22 that is supported on the 'hopperbottomf 4.- The tu re bottomv 16 has a hub 16'al which is rigi lyfastened tothe up er end ofthe shaft 21. Thus both shafty an 'tuvre are.supported by the step bearing 19. The necessary second ea'ring 23 isarranged directly inthel clear gas space close beneath the tuyre bottom16 and is sup-v ported by arms 23 that extend upward from voo the flan eor margin 3L of the gasoutlet 3. The gas aving been cleaned before itreaches the axial portion ofthe casing, it vshould be ap arent that theparts'23, 23', 21 and 20,

su erlittle wear and are of a substantially permanent character;Precautionary dust shields or collars 24 and 25 are provided at theupper ends of the bearing 23 and 20 respec tively.-

', The member 26is a wide flan e or collar"v been thrown tothe bottom ofthe casing, as j hereafter ex ilained.

The part 2 at the lower end ofthe gas pipe 2 is a guard `collar whichbridges the gap betweenthe lowerfendof that pipe .and the top or ring 15of the tuyre'T. The ring 27 may be dispensed with and the ring 15 isattached directly to the top ofthe casing, that is, when the .tuyre i'sto be used as a stationary,'non rotative member., I

vAt times, and perhaps at all times,lit is desirable to add moisture tothe gases and I provide novel meansto that end. Said means comprise thetangential water jet. pipes or nozzle 28 which are fixed in and projectinto the gas pipe 2. In each case a slot is cut in the pipe 2 `and thepipe laid in the slot. As best shown in Fig. 2each pipe is formed by acasting that has a -lange which covers the slot in the pipe and servesas a convenient means of attachment. One or more of these jet pipes maybeused at the lower end of the pipe. 2 and if desired also at the top ofthe malncasing.

As about lto `be explained, the gas vto be cleaned ishot, hot enough toform its contents of water into steam and at no timeis enou h water usedfrom the spray pipe to so lower te temperatureof the'gas as to avoidtheevaporation of any water that may chance to belon suspended therein.Anticipating the fu disclosure of my novel process, it may here bementioned that thewater involved instead of being permitted to .passinto suspension is carefully retained upon the externally cooled wallsof the described casing and is thus kept in the form of water, atleastuntil the dust,

has beenv delivered to the hopper 4. Generally, the hopper need not beexternally cooled, except as it is exposed to the external.

The latter is one of the chief aims of my inv vention.

The gas which enters the casing throu h the inlet 2 and the tu. re Tcontains usu y a high percentage lo moisture in the `form of su'erheatedsteam. That is,- the gas is usua y at a temperature exceeding 212.F.

and `contains so large an excess of heat a's to superheat the steam.lThe tuyre, whether it be rotated or stationaryv serves'to project thedust laden gases into rotation and against the opposed wall of the casinthereby the centrifugal separation of the u'st is brou ht about andcoincidently the moisture la en gas is caused to impact against thewalls which are capable of absorbing the heat of the gases and steam,thus thrown into contact therewith. In this lmanner considerable steamis'c'ondensed on the inner walls with .the result that the innersurfaceiof the casing of dust, the jets may be turned on to ensure theuniform wetting of the internal surfaces of the casing. Indeed a smallamount of water may be continually admitted through one or more jets,thus positioned at the top of the casing for the purpose of establishinga proper margin of'safety in the matter of retaining the dust thatiscentrifugally separated against the aforesaid surfaces.

The gas that is set in rotation by the tuyre being constantly displacedat the top, naturally whirls towards the bottom of the casing andsweeping its walls 'aids in the positive delivery of the separated casesto the hopper 4' or other receiving space. There is little, if

. any, actual iiow of gas in that 'part of the hopper which is below theflanges 3a and 26 at the-top oftheelbow, instead the gas which has beenfreed from dust against the casing is displaced inwardly, toward theaxis of the casing and thus reaches the outlet 3. y To ensure the quietmovement of the gas at that time, the ap or space between the bottom ofthe tuy re and the outlet 3 is made very much larger than necessary forthe accommodation of a stream of a size delined by the inlet 2. Therebypossible remixing effects are avoided and the dust is left in whirlingcondition along with the moisture on the wall of the casing. By far thebetter way in which to operate this apparatus is by condensing the dustretentive moisture on the inner surfaceb of the casing or by supplyingthe same through the described jets or equivalent means, butnevertheless it is to be understood that my invention comprehends theemployment 'of the dust catcher without such aids, that is in acompletely dry process.

Further various other modifications of my invention and differentembodiments thereof will readily suggest themselves to those skilled inthe art.v Therefore my invention as to both scope andessential detailsis to be interpreted and ascertained from the appended claims as read inthe light of the foregoing and is not to be construed as limited to thespecific structures herein shown and described.

Having thus described my inventionV I Y claim as new anddesire to secureby Letters- Patent:

l. The hereindescribed dust collector adapted for cleaning gases whichcontain -con densible vapors, comprising a vertical casing having ahopper bottom and joined by an inlet pipe Yat `the top, in 'combinationwith an outlet centrallyV positioned within said casing far below saidinlet, a pipe leading outward from said outlet, a whirl promoting tuyrepositioned at the top of said casing in communication-with said inlet,and means for externally cooling the walls of said casing to the extentrequired to condense the vapors which impact the inner surface 0f saidcasing.

2. The hereindescribed dust collector, comprising a vertical casinghaving a bottom dust lcavity and joined by an inlet pipe at the top, incombination with an outlet centrally positioned within said casing-farbelow said inlet, a pipe leading outward from said outj let, awhirlpromoting tuyre positioned at the top of said casing in communicationwith said inlet, and means for coating the external surface of saidcasing with liquid.

3. The hereindescribed dust collector adapted for cleaningY gases Awhichcontainl condensible vapors, comprisingja vertical casingV having abottom dust cavity and joined by an inlet pipe at the top, incombination with an outlet centrally positioned within said ycasing farbelow said inlet, a pipe leading outward from said outlet, a whirlpromoting tuyre positioned at the top' of said 'casing in rcommunicationwith said inlet, and means for air cooling the external surface of saidcasing to the extent required to condense the hot vapors Vwhich impactthe inner surface of the casing.

4. The hereindescribed dust collector adapted for cleaning gases whichcontain condensible vapors, comprisinga vertical casing having a bottomdust cavity and joined by an inlet pipe at the top, in combination withan outlet centrally positioned within said casing far below sai'd inlet,a pipe leading outward from said outlet, a whirl promoting tuyrepositioned at 'the top of said casing in communication with said inlet,and means for both water and air cooling the external surface of saidcasing to the extent required tocondense the hot vapors which impact theinner surface of the casing.

prising a casing havinga dust cavity at the bottom and joined by a hotgas pipe at the top, in combination with an outlet positioned withinsaid casing above said cavity, a hot gas pipe leading from said outlet,av whirl promoting tuyre positioned far above said outlet, within saidcasing'and receiving the hot gas from said inlet, means for spreadingwater upon the internal surfaces of said tuyre to maintain a moisturefilm thereon, and means foreaternally'cooling said casing to prevent theevaporation of said film by the heat of the hot gas and to4 condense thehot vapors which impaet'the inner surface of the cas1ng.

In testimony whereof I have hertunto set my hand this 9th day of March,A.. D. 1926..

CHARLES GILBERT HAWLEY.

